Boehringer Ingelheim and Tsinghua University Team up to Develop Novel Treatment Approaches that Rally the Immune System Against Infectious Diseases

Immuno-infection is a new focus area of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Research Beyond Borders (RBB) department, which explores emerging science and technology beyond the company’s core areas of focus

Boehringer Ingelheim and Tsinghua University will establish a Joint Research Center for Immuno-Infection for new therapy concept exploration as a joint undertaking that will coordinate collaboration between scientists from the partners and with other academic groups

Clive R. Wood, Ph.D. Senior Corporate Vice President, Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim and Professor Chen Dong, Dean of School of Medicine at the Tsinghua University signed the research partnership BeijingDownload

Ingelheim, Germany and Beijing, China– 4 September, 2018 – Boehringer Ingelheim and Tsinghua University in Beijing announce a collaboration aiming to research and develop immunological therapies for infectious diseases. Scientists will work in the Boehringer Ingelheim-Tsinghua University Joint Research Center for Immuno-Infection to harness the mechanisms of immune modulation to combat infectious diseases. The collaboration brings together the leading expertise of Tsinghua University in infectious disease research and immunology with Boehringer Ingelheim’s experience in the development of novel therapies for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical need and its comprehensive research and development programs in cancer immunology and immune modulation.

Infectious diseases such as lower respiratory tract infections (e.g. bacterial/viral pneumonia) and tuberculosis are amongst the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. In China, chronic hepatitis B and tuberculosis are of high prevalence and associated with high mortality. Although pathogen-directed treatments and vaccinations have greatly reduced the impact of infectious diseases in past decades, they continue to be a major challenge for health. Increasing levels of resistance threaten the effectiveness of many anti-microbial drugs. No new antibiotic classes were developed during the past three decades and many treatments fail to achieve cure, resulting in large numbers of patients at risk due to long-term persistent infections.

Similar to cancer, many pathogens may inhibit or modulate their host’s immune system and thus circumvent immune defense. Immune system activating therapies, which have brought a major therapeutic breakthrough in cancer may open similar transformative opportunities for infectious disease treatment.

“Value through innovation has been the driving force of Boehringer Ingelheim to meet the unmet medical need for patients, and to better serve society”, said Professor Zheng You, Vice President of Tsinghua University. “For Tsinghua University, innovation is one of the most important aspects we pursue, and this is the basis and synergy for this partnership”

Professor Chen Dong, Dean of School of Medicine at the Tsinghua University says, “We look forward to combining Boehringer Ingelheim’s leading competencies in immune oncology and immunology and the discovery and clinical development of new therapeutic agents with our leading expertise and strength in anti-infective therapy research and especially in immune modulation, for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical needs.”

Prof Chen Dong (1. from left) and Prof Zheng You (2. from left) at the signing ceremony in BeijingDownload

“The joint scientific hub gives our scientists the opportunity to work hand in hand with the outstanding scientists from Tsinghua University to discover novel treatment approaches in the field of immunology and infectious diseases,” explains Clive R. Wood, Ph.D. Senior Corporate Vice President, Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “This partnership has the potential to open new approaches for currently untreatable infectious diseases.”

“Our collaboration with Tsinghua University is a further expression of our strong commitment to supporting research and development in China, and acknowledges the leading position China has achieved in many scientific areas”, said David Preston, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Greater China.
This collaboration is an initiative of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Research Beyond Borders (RBB) and Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation Research Departments. Immuno-infection is a new focus area for Boehringer Ingelheim’s RBB department, which also focuses on gene therapy, regenerative medicine and the role of the microbiome in human health and disease.

With the new collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim further expands its activities in the growing biomedical innovation hot spot of China. By combining a focus on cutting-edge science with a long-term view, the company aspires to develop the next generation of medical breakthroughs to improve the lives of patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical needs.

Boehringer Ingelheim
Improving the health and quality of life of patients is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.

Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2017, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of nearly 18.1 billion euros. R&D expenditure, exceeding three billion euros, corresponded to 17.0 per cent of net sales.

As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards mankind and the environment.

Tsinghua University School of Medicine
Tsinghua University School of Medicine was founded on October 25th, 2001. Since September 2016, Dr. Chen Dong, a world-renown immunologist serves as the Dean of the School of Medicine.

The School of Medicine has currently four major components, including the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Clinical Medicine and the Center for Public health.

After nearly 16 years of active development, Tsinghua University School of Medicine has established a solid medical and graduate student training system with strong capacity of scientific research and a top notch faculty team. The Department of Basic Medicine has made remarkable achievements in basic research such as biophysics and biochemistry, immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases, cancer biology, etc. Especially, in the field of infectious diseases and immune modulation, the department has achieved high international peer recognition and has frequently published in top international academic journals.

The School of Medicine has established long-term collaborations with leading global pharmaceutical companies, such as Bayer, Bristol-Meyer Squibb and GSK. These collaborations will allow the research findings to be translated into innovative medicine for unmet medical illness.

Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University was established in 1911, originally under the name “Tsinghua Xuetang”. The school was renamed "Tsinghua School" in 1912. The university section was founded in 1925. The name “National Tsinghua University” was adopted in 1928.

The faculty greatly valued the interaction between Chinese and Western cultures, the sciences and humanities, the ancient and modern. Tsinghua scholars Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao, Chen Yinque and Zhao Yuanren, renowned as the "Four Tutors" in the Institute of Chinese Classics, advocated this belief and had a profound impact on Tsinghua's later development.

Tsinghua University was forced to move to Kunming and join with Peking University and Nankai University to form the Southwest Associated University due to the Resistance War against the Japanese Invasion in 1937. In 1946 The University was moved back to its original location in Beijing after the war.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the University was molded into a polytechnic institute focusing on engineering in the nationwide restructuring of universities and colleges undertaken in 1952. In November 1952, Mr. Jiang Nanxiang became the President of the University. He made significant contributions in leading Tsinghua to become the national center for training engineers and scientists with both professional proficiency and personal integrity.

Since China opened up to the world in 1978, Tsinghua University has developed at a breathtaking pace into a comprehensive research university. At present, the university has 14 schools and 56 departments with faculties in science, engineering, humanities, law, medicine, history, philosophy, economics, management, education and art. The University has now over 25,900 students, including 13,100 undergraduates and 12,800 graduate students. As one of China’s most renowned universities, Tsinghua has become an important institution for fostering talent and scientific research.

The educational philosophy of Tsinghua is to "train students with integrity." Among over 120,000 students who have graduated from Tsinghua since its founding are many outstanding scholars, eminent entrepreneurs and great statesmen remembered and respected by their fellow Chinese citizens.

With the motto of “Self-Discipline and Social Commitment” and the spirit of “Actions Speak Louder than Words”, Tsinghua University is dedicated to the well-being of Chinese society and to world development.